29 Mar The Superpower of Tech is Female
What we learned from Codam’s International Women’s Day panel
What does it take to shape the future of technology?
On International Women’s Day, Codam hosted a panel with inspiring female leaders from across the tech industry. Together with Corinne Vigreux (TomTom & Codam), Dr. Cara Antoine (Capgemini), Christina Caljé (TINTT), Gwen Kolader (CL Global), and Marion van Happen (HeadFirst Group), we explored leadership, innovation, and the role women play in building the technology of tomorrow.
The discussion made one thing clear:
women don’t just belong in tech — they are essential to building better technology.
Here are some of the key insights from the evening.
Innovation needs different perspectives
Innovation rarely happens when everyone in the room thinks the same way.
Corinne Vigreux shared that the most creative solutions often emerge when people from different backgrounds approach a problem together. Gender diversity, cultural diversity, and different educational paths all bring new ways of thinking.
If everyone looks at a problem through the same lens, the solutions tend to look the same too.
That’s why diverse teams are often more innovative. They challenge assumptions, question the obvious, and see opportunities others might miss.
For technology companies — whose products affect millions of people — that diversity of thinking is not just valuable. It’s essential.
If you’re not in the room, you’re not shaping the future
Dr. Cara Antoine highlighted why representation in tech matters more than ever.
Many modern technologies, especially artificial intelligence, are built using historical data. But history itself isn’t neutral. It can be incomplete, biased, or shaped by limited perspectives.
When that data is used to train algorithms, those biases can easily carry over into the technology we build.
If the teams creating these systems don’t reflect the diversity of society, the results won’t either.
That’s why representation is so important — not just as a diversity goal, but as a responsibility.
As Dr. Antoine put it:
‘we need women in the rooms where the algorithms are written’.
Because those rooms are where the future is designed.
You don’t need a traditional tech background
One of the biggest misconceptions about the tech industry is that everyone started coding at age twelve.
Christina Caljé challenged that idea.
She shared that she doesn’t come from a computer science background herself, yet she has built multiple technology-focused companies. Her journey into tech started with curiosity and a desire to solve problems.
Understanding the problem you want to solve can be just as powerful as understanding the technology itself.
For people considering a career switch into tech, her message was simple:
‘You don’t need to know everything at the start’.
Curiosity, resilience, and adaptability can take you much further than you might think.
Claim your voice
Another theme that resonated throughout the panel was confidence.
Gwen Kolader spoke openly about moments earlier in her career when her ideas were overlooked or repeated by someone else in the room. It’s an experience many professionals — especially those in underrepresented groups — can relate to.
Over time, she learned how to reclaim her voice.
Sometimes that means calmly pointing out that an idea originally came from you. Sometimes it means making sure you finish what you started saying.
Confidence doesn’t appear overnight. It grows through experience.
But learning to own your ideas and contributions is an important step toward leadership.
Authentic leadership matters
Marion van Happen shared a story that many leaders will recognize.
Early in her career, she believed she needed to behave like the men around her in leadership roles in order to succeed. But trying to fit into someone else’s mold eventually became exhausting.
Over time, she realised her strength came from something else entirely: curiosity.
By asking questions, being honest about mistakes, and staying authentic, she became a stronger leader and built stronger teams.
Authenticity turned out to be her greatest leadership asset.
And that authenticity allowed her to make a bigger impact.
The next generation of women in tech
Throughout the evening, the panel kept returning to one important idea: representation creates possibility.
When young women see leaders who look like them in technology, it becomes easier to imagine themselves in those roles too.
Events like this are not just about sharing experiences. They’re about opening doors.
For students at Codam — and anyone thinking about starting a career in tech — the panel offered a powerful reminder:
‘You don’t need to follow a traditional path.
You don’t need to have everything figured out’.
But you do need curiosity, resilience, and the courage to take up space.
The future of tech is built together
Technology is shaping nearly every part of our world — from healthcare and transportation to artificial intelligence.
If only a small group of people builds these systems, the technology will reflect that.
But when more voices are included — more backgrounds, more experiences, more perspectives — the technology becomes stronger.
And the future becomes better for everyone.
As we like to say at Codam:
‘The superpower of tech is female’.